This past Sunday, Stublic, a former Crosby High All-State runner and Columbia University All-American, won the Zurich Marathon. Her time of 2:25.44 set a course record. It is also a Stublic and Croatian national record. Stublic, who runs now under the Croatian flag, bested her own national record by five minutes.

In Zurich, Stublic led the women's race from start to finish and beat the next female runner by more than five minutes. And better than that, at the 20-mile mark Stublic ran past the lead pack of men and led the entire field for nearly three miles.

"I don't know exactly, but with about three miles to go they caught back up and passed me," said Stublic, when reached by e-mail Tuesday.

"Everything was going great," she said. "I passed the 20-mile mark feeling really strong, but then with about four miles to go it got very hard for me all of a sudden. My quadriceps were getting heavy, and I had to focus on moving my arms to get my legs to follow suit."

The frigid temperatures in the colder-than-normal European spring made marathoning difficult Sunday. The temperature at the start of the race was 36 degrees. It warmed to a less-than-balmy 39.

Not ideal for marathoning, but not unbearable for a Waterbury native.

Stublic has methodically made the transition from middle-distance runner and steeplechaser to marathoner, and she admits that she didn't feel comfortable with the distance until her run in the London Olympics last summer. There, she stayed with the lead pack of five runners until injury slowed her around mile 15.

Nothing has slowed her since.

Last month in New York, Stublic ran to third place in the New York City half-marathon, with a time of 1:09:13, just nine seconds off the winning pace.

Stublic opened a lot of eyes in New York and earned a slew of offers from running agents and managers, which she is currently examining.

"I have managed myself," she said. "If I were to have a manager, I would receive better racing opportunities."

Her 2:25 time in Zurich will see to that, manager or not.

See STUBLIC, Page 3C

"My plan was to run the first half between 1:12.40 and 1:13.00," she said. "I ended up running the first half in 1:12.40, and I felt great physically and aerobically."

Unlike her London race, Stublic's body stayed strong.

"I had a similar race plan in London, but unfortunately, at about 25K (15.5 miles) my right lower back cramped up and it became harder and harder to lift my right leg."

But her half-marathon time in London (1:13:11) and her faster time in New York told Stublic that race projections of 2:25 or 2:26 were doable. In Zurich, she got it done.

So where exactly does a 2:25:44 marathon place Stublic? She is currently ranked No. 2 in Europe and 19th in the world. Yes, you read that correctly, but let's toss it out one more time: Stublic is the 19th-ranked marathoner in the world.

Here's another statistic that might make the eyeballs pop: After the Zurich time, only five American-born women have run faster marathon times than Lisa Stublic. The race and time made a believer even out of the 28-year-old Stublic.

"I definitely feel like a serious athlete after this performance," she said. "I would say that I started to actually feel like a marathoner when I ran in London. I wasn't nervous before the (Zurich) race. I was confident and calm.

"After London, I was a bit disappointed, naturally, but I knew that all my training wasn't in vain, and that it would pay off in the future."

That future arrived in Zurich, with a time that alters her plans for the future.

"A 2:25 is a much more serious time than 2:30, so it will be a lot easier to get into bigger races," she said.

Stublic's race calendar for 2013 is now officially out the window. It is time, she said, to reassess her season.

"I do not know for sure," she said of her race schedule. "Within the next few weeks, my coaches and I will sit down and plan out next season, but as long as I am healthy I will run another marathon by the end of the year."

And yes, at all times, with every training session and race result, all roads now lead clearly to Brazil, to Rio and to the Games of the 2016 Olympics.

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